Book two in the 'One that got away' franchise.
When things seem like they are settling down, Will and Rachel's lives are turned upside down when their daughter is involved in a serious accident.
It's up to them to try and piece their lives back toge...
"No! No please! I'll be good! I promise!" A voice pleaded as they tossed and turned.
Will instantly bolted up in bed. He knew something wasn't right.
The twins weren't ones to have nightmares, and aside from the occasional one from Finn due to his PTSD from the accident it was rare to hear anyone calling out.
After a few seconds he realised who it was.
Emma.
They were warned that it was possible that Emma could have nightmares, but she'd been so settled recently that he'd put it out of his mind.
Sprinting to Madeline's room, her opened the door and crouched down beside the bed.
"Hey, Emma it's okay. It's okay. Daddy's here. You're okay. No one is taking you away. You're okay." Will soothed as slowly Emma's nightmare stopped.
"You are safe, and no one is going to hurt you." He repeated.
"Sorry..." Emma apologised as she sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Do you get nightmares a lot?" Will asked as he looked his daughter in the eyes.
Emma nodded.
"....Sometimes they're about mom. Except they're all warped, and instead of her dying something else bad happens. Other times it's about me being left alone." Emma admitted.
Will's heart practically broke in half. Emma didn't deserve what she had been through. It devastated him that he couldn't of been there for her sooner.
"Would you like to come and lay with me and Rachel?" Will asked as the girl nodded.
Emma grabbed her blanket as Will took her hand and placed her on top of the bed.
"I'm sorry for being such a burden. I'll promise not to wake you up again." Emma said as she wriggled to try and lie down.
Hearing his daughter say such words, was like an arrow to Will's heart. God, this entire situation sucked. Emma got the shitty end of the straw unnecessarily and now she's paying the price.
"Emma listen to me. You're my daughter, my flesh and blood. I may have only known you for only a week but I love you. And you will NEVER be a burden to me. You can wake me up every hour as far as I'm concerned, as long as you are settled and happy I couldn't care about the lack of sleep." Will said firmly.
"Thank you. I'm not... I'm not used to someone putting me first." Emma said as a lone tear trailed its way down her cheek.
"Well get used to it." Will said softly, as he shuffled closer to his daughter.
"My dream was about you." Emma mumbled as Will's eyes widened slightly.
"Me?" Will asked as Emma nodded slightly.
"I was being taken away from you and Rachel. It made me think of when I was taken away from mommy." Emma said as she looked at Will.
"I cried myself to sleep that night. I was the little girl who cried herself to sleep as she wanted her parents so bad..." Emma's voice quivered.
Will could see that this was verging into rough territory and didn't want to push Emma to reveal more but also didn't want her to close up and not feel like she couldn't speak to him, so he let her continue.
"It's just... with mom gone and me barely knowing you... it reminds me of what I am and what I will always be." Emma said as she began to cry.
"What's that?" Will asked.
"An orphan." Emma spat out.
"Baby. You're not that and you never will be that. You have us, Everleigh and Alex already love you and I know once she's home Madeleine will too." Will said firmly but quietly.
"What's.... What's Madeleine like?" Emilia asked.
"She's similar to you actually. She loves PBJ's and hot chocolate with cinnamon. She loves the colour blue and loves to dress up as a princess. She's funny and very cheeky." Will smiled as she spoke.
"Can I see a picture?" Emma asked as Will nodded.
Grabbing his phone, he pulled up the picture he took the day before the accident
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"She loves pulling funny faces." Will chuckled as Emma giggled.
"When will I get to meet her?" Emma asked.
"Soon, I promise. She's got a lot of injuries from her accident that are still healing so I want to be sure that they heal before you see her." Will said as Emma nodded sleepily.
"Get some sleep Emmy." Will spoke quietly.
"Not sleepy." Emma said as she fought the urge to sleep.
"I'll be here, I promise. I'm never going anywhere ever again." Will said as Emma began to loose the fight to stay awake.
"You promise?" Emma whispered.
"I promise." Will said as he watched Emma's eyes finally fall shut.
For the first time in six months, Emma slept soundly.
And for the first time since the accident, Will slept through the night.
Authors note: A little Will/Emma centric chapter for you all! I hope you enjoyed it. I love writing these two together, they're so easy to write for!
